Stovepipe-cleaner.



R. L. SMITH. STOVEPIPE CLEANER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 4, 1912.

814 vex 1 60c Patented Aug. 12, 1913.

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Rubzrl Lee Smith,

GUM/nu e WNTTED STATES PATENT @FFKCE.

ROBERT LEE SMITH, OF BESSEMER, ALABAMA.

STOVEPIPE-GLEANER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT LEE SMirH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Bessemer, in the county of Jefferson and State of Alabama, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Stovepipe- Cleaners; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in stove pipe cleaners.

One object of the invention is to provide a stove pipe cleaner adapted to be applied to either vertical or horizontal pipes and to remain permanently therein.

Another object is to provide a stove pipe cleaner which may be operated without taking the pipe down and While a fire is in the stove.

lVith these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction, and the combination and arrangement of parts as will be more fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a portion of a stove pipe showing the application of the invention thereto, the latter being shown in a lowered and inoperative position; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the device in an operative position and drawn up in the pipe; Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the position of the parts when the device is being lowered and the soot discharged therefrom; Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal sectional view taken on the line 44: of Fig. 2; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of a portion of the pipe and of the device taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawings 1 denotes a portion of a stove and 2 denotes the stove pipe to which my improved cleaner is applied. The cleaner comprises upper and lower outer rings 3 and 4 the diameter of which corresponds substantially to the inside diameter of the pipe with which the same are engaged. Within the rings 3 and 4 are arranged inner upper and lower rings 5 and 6, said rings are of less diameter than the rings 3 and 4, and between the same and secured thereto in any suitable manner are a series of vertically disposed ring sup- I porting and guiding bars 7 the upper ends Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed November 4, 1912.

Patented Aug. 12,1913.

Serial No. 729,545.

of which preferably project a short distance above the upper rings 3 and 5 as shown.

Arranged within the upper inner ring 5 is a circular soot collecting plate 8 having formed thereon at diametrically opposite points laterally projecting pivot studs 9 which are loosely engaged with hearing apertures 10 formed in the inner ring 5 and in the adjacent part of two of the guide bars 7 as clearly shown in Fig. 5 of the drawings.

Connected at its ends to the opposite sides of the soot collecting plate 8 is an operating chain 11 which passes around upper and lower guide pulleys 12 and 13 and through suitable openings 14 in one side of the pipe so that one stretch of the chain is on the outside and the other stretch on the inside of the pipe as shown. Secured to the inner upper ring 5 below the opposite side of the plate 8 from that to which the ends of the chain 11 are connected is an inwardly projecting stop pin 15 with which this edge of the plate is engaged and by means of which the latter is held in a horizontal position or across the pipe when pulled upwardly by the chain.

By constructing and arranging the cleaner as herein shown and described it will be seen that when the outer stretch of the chain is pulled down upon, the plate 8 will first be swung to a. horizontal position across the pipe as clearly shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, after which a further pull on the outer stretch of the chain will draw the cleaner upwardly in the pipe, causing the upper outer ring 3 to scrape the soot from the sides of the pipe. The soot when thus scraped from the pipe falls on the plate 8 upon which it accumulates while the cleaner is being drawn upwardly in the pipe. hen the cleaner has been drawn upwardly to its greatest extent or to the limit of its upward movement the outer stretch of the chain 11 is pulled upwardly thus swinging the plate 8 downwardly to a vertical position as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings which will discharge the soot therefrom into the a being pulled upwardly therein. The cleaner when lowered or brought to the limit of its downward movement is engaged with a combined stop and supporting pin 16 which is arranged through one side of the pipe at 'a' suitable position above the lower pulley 13 of the chain 11 as clearly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. By constructing and arranging my improved stove pipe cleaner as herein shown and described it will be seen that the same may be employed in connection with either vertical or horizontal stove pipes and will effectually remove all soot or other accumulations from the inner side of the pipe. It will also be noted that the device remains permanently in the pipe and may be operated at any time without disturbing the fire in the stove and without creating any dust or permitting any of the soot to enter the room during the cleaning operation.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings the construction and operation of the invention will be readily understood without requiring a more extended eXplanation,

Various changes in the form, proportion and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. The combination with a stove pipe, of a stove pipe cleaner comprising an annular scraping member adapted to conform to the shape of said pipe, a soot collecting plate pivotally mounted in said member, and means connected with said plate whereby the same may be swung to a horizontal or vertical position in the scraping member and the f latter reciprocated within the pipe.

2. The combination with a stove pipe having therein side openings of a stove pipe one of said rings, a flexible operating member connected at its inner ends with the opposite sides of said plate and adapted to pass outwardly through the side openings in said pipe, guide pulleys to hold said opera-ting element in position whereby said plate may be swung to operative and inoperative positions and the scraping rings reciproc'ated in the pipe, and a stop pin to 101d said plate in an operative position.

3. The combination with a stove pipe having therein side openings of a stove pipe cleaner comp-rising inner and outer upper and lower pairs of rings, guide rods ar ranged between and secured to said rings whereby the latter are held in operative po sition to permit said outer rings to engage and scrape the inner sides of the stove pipe to which the cleaner is applied, a plate pivotally mounted in one of said inner rings, a stop pin secured to said ring and adapted to hold said plate in an operative position, an endless flexible operating member connected with the opposite sides of said plate and working through the openings in said pipe, guide pulleys to hold said member in operative position whereby the plate may be swung to horizontal and vertical positions in said rings and the cleaner reciprocated within the stove pipe and a stop pin to limit the downward movement of and to supportthe cleaner in an inoperative position.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set 'my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesse's.

ROBERT LEE SMITH.

Witnesses Gno. Ross, FRED Ross.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. 

